The Diet (Japan’s legislature) has amended and expanded an act that establishes a personal identification (ID) number, known as the “My Number” system. The amendment act was promulgated on September 9, 2015. (Act on the Use of Numbers to Identify a Specific Individual in Administrative Procedures (My Number Act), Act No. 27 of 2013, as amended by Act No. 65 of 2015 text of the 2013 Act, The House of Representatives website text of Act No. 65 of 2015, Cabinet Secretariat website (both in Japanese).) The system has not yet started operating.

Under the original 2013 Act, a 12-digit ID number will be assigned to every resident, whether Japanese or foreign, by October 2015. The numbers will start being used on January 1, 2016. The ID number system would be used mainly for taxation and social security purposes. The government claims that the system would enhance fairness in taxation and efficiency in the distribution of social welfare resources. (For Foreigners Registered as Residents in Japan, Cabinet Secretariat website (Aug. 4, 2015).)